Victoria moved around her home with an extra pep in her step and an honest smile on her face, her fiance Darian watched her almost float into the living room where she sat beside him and handed him one of the two ice cold Coca-Cola bottles she grabbed from the refrigerator. The drinks seemed appropriate for the season and she liked those polar bears as much as the next person.
“Somebody's been in a good mood today.” Darian said, popping his Coke open.
“What's there to be upset about?" she smiled back at him, opening her own soda. “I have a wonderful fiance, I have a championship, and I get to face one of my favorite rivals on Climax Control.”
“I thought you hated Alexandra Calaway.” Darien piqued.
“Oh I do…” Victoria replied “Sort of…., I mean there's certainly no love lost between us. But when I step in the ring with her, she always brings the best out of me and that's something I can appreciate.”
“I just thought you'd be more upset about Harper Mason.” he said “And what happened at Thanksgiving.”
“Harper Mason is a problem, yes.” Victoria said “But she's more of this annoying fly that won't go away. She's always buzzing around, but she's not wanted. She ruined my celebration and it seems like that earned her a championship match. Okay whatever I can respect the tactic, but if she thinks lightning is going to strike twice she's sorely mistaken.”
She takes a sip of her Coke.
“As for Thanksgiving…” she said with a sigh “That's in the past I'm not concerned about it. I'm used to my mother acting that way. At least we know better for Christmas.”
She took another sip of coke, Darian took a sip of his as well.
There was a moment of comfortable silence as the two just cuddled together on the couch with their cokes, and Victoria knew they were made for each other. Whatever remarks other people had about that relationship didn't matter to her Darian was hers and that's what really mattered.
“You know I'm really proud of you.” Darian said, breaking the silence.
Victoria looked at him curiously.
“Just for everything.” he said “You've become a champion again. You've been recognized as the woman of the year, you've been handling all the drama with your brother, and yet you're still here still staying focused. Plus you managed to get this drifter to settle down.”
Victoria smiled a genuine smile, not her usual arrogant smirk, just an honest happy smile.
“Well it helps that the drifter is quite handsome.” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
She sat her bottle on the coffee table and cuddled closer to her fiancé, feeling his arm tighten around her.
“So Alexandra really has you fired up eh?” he said
“She always does.” Victoria said “She's one of the few women who actually pushes me to be better, no shortcuts and no excuses. With all the crap I'm dealing with Harper Mason and my mom it's nice to have something to look forward to that actually matters.”
“So it's still personal between you and her," Darian said “Just in a different way.”
“Exactly." said Victoria “This is a main event earned because Alexandra and myself are among the elite bombshells in SCW, and this is where I show her, Harper Mason, and everybody else why I'm the Bombshell Internet Champion, why I'm the woman of the year and why I will always be the queen.”
Victoria shifted her posture slightly.
“The funny thing is…” Victoria said “This isn't even about proving anything to Alexandra anymore. She knows what I'm capable of, we're no strangers to each other, and I know she respects the fight even if she doesn't respect me.”
“She's still never been able to beat you one-on-one.” Darian reminded her.
“And that's exactly what makes her dangerous.” Victoria replied, “She's not stupid, she's well aware of her lack of success against me and that just means she's going to come even harder. She's going to want to get this victory over me more than she has in the past, because that'll give her the momentum and confidence she needs when she steps in against Alicia Lukas. A match she might be surprised to hear that I'm pulling for her in.”
“Victoria Lyons rooting for Alexandra Calaway....” Darian grinned, "Never thought I'd see the day.”
“I'm just saying.” Victoria said “Game recognizes game, and it's unfortunate that with all her hard work she's been unsuccessful in her championship endeavors.”
“Well you better not tell her that.” Darian said “They might think you've gone soft.”
“Well if they think that.” Victoria grinned “They'll find out how wrong they are real quick. ”
That confident, almost arrogant smile on her face appears now.
“The thing is..” Victoria continued “People assume facing Alexandra means stress, like she's a big weight on my back that I have to carry.”
“Is she not?” Darian said slightly tilting his head "She is one of your toughest rivals, you said it yourself.”
“That's what people don't get.” Victoria continued “She doesn't weigh me down, she sharpens me. She'll hit me with something hard enough that it wakes up something in me.”
“Like an alarm clock?” said Darian with a grin.
“A violent alarm clock.” Victoria laughed “But yeah, she wakes up a part of me that loves this job. The fight, the back and forth she brings is something that forces you to push past your own ceiling.”
“Makes sense.“ said Darian “You've always done better when you're actually interested.”
“Exactly Dare Bear.” she said “And I'm very interested because Alexandra is unpredictable. She'll try something new, something I've never seen from her, because she knows she can't come at me with the same stuff she has before or it will lead to the same result, so she's going to have to surprise me. Which she will, and I get to solve that puzzle in real time and that's what makes it fun.”
“You sound more excited than anything.” Darian said.
“Because I am.” Victoria admitted “Alexandra is one of the few people who will walk into a match with me like she wants to test herself, meanwhile Harper Mason thinks mouthing off and ruining my moments is stepping up.”
“Yeah, Harper doesn't exactly carry herself like she understands the assignment.” Darian nodded.
“That's putting it nicely.” Victoria said “Harper doesn't understand the difference between ambition and impulsiveness. Alexandra fights because she wants the fight. Harper fights because she wants a moment.”
Victoria picked up her Coke and took another sip.
“Alexandra reminds me that I'm still evolving.” Victoria said “When I face her, I don't have room to be distracted by family drama or anything else because she's the type of opponent that demands all of me.”
“And you like that.” Darian smiled at her.
“Of course. This main event isn't about grudges or revenge.” Victoria said “Her and I don't have to prove anything to anyone, we're two women who know exactly what the other brings and we're both going to be walking with our eyes open.”
She paused through another sip of her Coke.
“But at the end of the day.” she said with a glint in her eye, "I'm going to show her once again that my ceiling is, and always will be higher than hers.”
“Now that sounds like the woman of the year.” Darian smirked.
“You're goddamn right.” said Victoria.
The two finished enjoying their Cokes and put on a movie to round out their evening together. Tonight they chose Jack Frost, the cheesy horror version.
__________
Victoria maneuvered her cart carefully down the aisle of the store keeping focus on her list. The next thing was the peppermint bark Darian had asked for, plus they needed some toilet paper, milk and a few other necessities. It was supposed to be a simple trip, get in and out without any drama.
Of course that would be too easy, and when she rounded the corner into the next aisle she froze and let out an annoyed sigh.
Vincent.
She tried to turn away but it was too late and she heard that familiar aggravating voice call to her.
“Wow!, look who decided to grace the common folk with her presence.” Vincent said.
“Vincent…” she said turning to face him “I'm just here to pick up a few things for Darian and myself, I don't need any drama.”
“I'm just surprised to see the woman of the year out here shopping like a normal person.” he grinned "It's almost like you've been domesticated.”
“Everybody needs groceries Vincent.” she remarked.
“Everybody needs groceries… of course.” Vincent said with an eye roll “Or maybe the woman of the year just needs everyone to remember that she exists in the world.”
Victoria held her breath and gritted her teeth. She really wasn't looking to argue or fight right now, she just wanted to shop.
“I didn't come here to argue.” she said “Let's just go our separate ways, and pretend this didn't happen. I just want to have a peaceful trip to the grocery store.”
“Well then you walked down the wrong aisle." Vincent grinned.
“Apparently…” Victoria said with an annoyed exhale.
“So what's the big plan for tonight?” Vincent said taking a step closer “Go home, polish your championship and act like the world adores you?”
“The plan.” Victoria said annoyed “Is to go home, make dinner and watch a movie with my fiance. You know, normal stuff.”
“Where's your little boy toy anyway?” Vincent said “You allow him off the leash?”
“Darian went to pick up our order from Krispy Kreme.” Victoria said
“Of course he did.” Vincent smirked, “You're not worried he'll eat them all before you guys get home?”
The older version of Victoria would have snapped immediately but she had grown, and she didn't rise to the bait. She just took a steady breath and remained calm.
“I'm not playing your games Vincent.” she said “I'm just shopping and would like to do so in peace.”
“Well look at you.” Vincent said refusing to stop, “Little Miss serenity, so this is what happens when the cameras go off.”
“Vincent please…” she said
He didn't stop.
“No it's cute.” He said “Seeing you play house with your little routines, and your little shopping list. You got your fiance picking up donuts, it's like you're some sort of suburban queen now. What would Alexandra Calaway think if she saw you like this?”
“I don't think she'd care.” Victoria replied “I imagine her and LJ Kasey do grocery shopping of their own as well. It's not a big deal. I'm just living my life.”
“Yeah.. your life.” Vincent scoffed “The perfect little story you've built for yourself.”
“Not perfect.” Victoria replied “Just peaceful.”
“You?! Peaceful?!” Vincent said with a laugh.
“Yes.” she replied firmly "Because I choose to be.”
“For how long?” Vincent challenged “Until something goes wrong? Until you lose your championship and the shine wears off? Then what? Then you go right back to trying to scream louder than everybody, just to make sure you're still noticed.”
“I don't need to scream anymore.” Victoria said.
“Stop pretending.” Vincent said “Stop pretending you've grown. This little act of yours isn't fooling me. Don't forget we are twins and still two minds of the same kind.”
Victoria shook her head.
“We may be twins.” she said “But we're not the same, not anymore.”
"It's pathetic!" Vincent said “You running around like you're some enlightened version of yourself. It's not becoming of you.”
“It's called growth Vincent, something you apparently still have yet to learn about.” she said.
“You're avoiding reality.” Vincent said.
“The only thing I want to avoid right now is you.” Victoria said, trying to push past him but he stopped the cart.
“You think I'm being a jerk.” Vincent said “I'm just trying to remind my sister of who she really is.”
“No, you're trying to pull me into your reality.” Victoria said “I know who I am, I don't need you or anyone else to remind me. Now get out of my way and let me continue shopping so I can get back to my fiance. Maybe you should find yourself a better half, you'd be a lot happier. Although I'm not sure I'd want to meet the crazy bitch that falls in love with you.”
The twins stared at each other with complete disdain in their eyes when another voice broke the silence.
“There you are Vic.” came the voice of Darian who appeared with a full box of Krispy Kreme donuts.
It didn't take him long to notice the situation.
“Everything okay here?” he said, stopping to stand next to Victoria.
“Everything's fine.. Dare Bear.“ Victoria replied “We're just talking…”
“Yeah talking..” Vincent said, matching her energy.
“Do you want to keep talking?” Darian asked placing his free hand gently on Victoria's lower back in an attempt to steady her “Or do you want to go?”
“Let's go.” Victoria said after a moment
“Of course.” Vincent said “Just run away when things get real, is that really who you are now?”
“I'm not running.” Victoria said “I'm leaving because this conversation has passed its expiration date, and I have far bigger fish to fry than you.”
With that she pushed more forcefully and made her way past Vincent, Darian following suit.
“Victoria!” Vincent called back after her “Don't you walk away from me!”
But she did walk away, she didn't need that drama anymore. While she had grown she was still Victoria Lyons. She just understood herself a lot better now. Vincent still had his own demons to deal with, and his own lessons to learn. But he wasn't her problem anymore and his problems were his to figure out. As far as she was concerned, she had grown into a better version of herself than the one Vincent was trying to force her back into being.
She finished picking up her last few things with Darian and left the store, letting the whole Vincent incident disappear from her mind, so she could focus on the one person that she needed to right now.
Alexandra Calaway.
__________
The cameras open on Victoria Lyons sitting elegantly on a sofa, her Bombshell Internet Championship resting on the coffee table beside her. Darian also sits nearby Victoria in a relaxed posture, A smug, but assured smile creeps across Victoria's face.
“Alexandra Calaway….” she begins, saying the name slowly, savoring it. “You know it's funny, there's opponents in this business you deal with because you have to. Opponents you tolerate because management wants the match, just so they can fill a space on the card.”
She shrugs, with a slight shake of the head.
“But then there's opponents like you.” she said “Every time we faced off you forced me to go further than I expected to go and I was forced to walk backstage with the reminder that I just defeated someone who knew what the hell they were doing.”
Darian nods in agreement with Victoria's endorsement.
“You bring out the fighter in me.” Victoria said “The woman who wants to refine every part of her game because she knows she's facing someone who demands it. You're unpredictable and you have a presence about you. The kind of lets everyone know that when they're booked against you, they better brace for war. You force them to be better than they realize they are, and that truly is something to be admired.”
“She does have an aura about her.” Darian chimed in.
“She does.” agreed Victoria “And that Alexandra is why this main event matters to me. You're not walking in to be just another body in the ring, you're going to come in to push me, and challenge me and make me figure out which part of me I need to level up next.”
She repostured herself to lean forward slightly.
“And I welcome that.” she said confidently “But let's not pretend we haven't already danced this dance before. We've gone out there and bled together, and tested each other and at the end of the day you've still never beaten me one-on-one.”
She pauses for a beat.
“Now do I think that means I'm going to walk away with another victory?” Victoria said “No not at all. It gives me confidence going in, sure. But I also know that it means you're going to be more dangerous than you've ever been. You need this win over me to give you the confidence and the momentum you need going into your match with Alicia Lukas.
She looks down at her Bombshell Internet internet Championship resting on the coffee table.
“But I need this too.” Victoria said “I need to show Harper Mason exactly what's coming for her and what she gets for being the little cockroach fly pissant nuisance she is.”
Victoria pauses and takes a deep breath.
“Harper Mason..” she grunted “She's nothing more than noise, a distraction that thinks she's an obstacle. But that's not you Alexandra, you’re clarity. You force me to make everything fall away so the only thing left in front is the fight. That's what makes you the kind of opponent that actually matters.”
She pauses.
“I don't have to worry about theatrics with you.” she said “I don't have to deal with somebody screaming for attention. I don't deal with any of that. With you the only thing I have to worry about is excellence.”
She pauses for another beat.
“But excellence isn't unbeatable.” she said “You've never beaten me one-on-one, and it's not because you aren't capable or because you're lacking something. It's because when you stand across from me, I rise higher.”
She gives a reassuring nod.
“That's the truth of it.” she said “When you push me up the mountain, I climb faster. Every time you hit me I hit you harder, and when you think you found the opening I close the damn door.”
A grin grows on her lips as her eyes slightly narrow.
“Because I evolve faster than you.” she grinned.
“And you love proving it.” Darian smiled at her
“Oh I absolutely do.” Victoria said “It's what I live for. It's not about embarrassing you Alexandra is because beating someone like you is a high, and the type of win that makes a champion feel like a champion.”
She looks down at her championship again.
“And we already know which one of us is currently a champion.” she said.
“But hey, believe it or not we're pulling for you.” Darian said.
“It's true.” Victoria said “Believe it or not, despite our history with the whole burning of my throne, and the whole breaking of Alexander's ankle deal, I do want to see you put down Alicia Lukas and walk out with a championship.”
She leans back resting one arm across the back of the sofa, an expression of competitive sincerity on her face.
“I don't hand out hope lightly.” she said “I don't just pat anyone on the back and say -you got this-, so I can look humble. If I say that Alexandra, it's because you've earned that kind of confidence from me.”
She pauses for a beat.
“I want to see you take that title off Alicia Lukas and walk out of 2025 with your head held high.“ Victoria said “I want to see you go into 2026 with the championship around your waist you damn well deserve.”
She pauses for another beat.
“But don't mistake that for me going soft.” [/color]said Victoria "If you're going to get a victory over me and get the confidence you need, that momentum you desire, then you're going to have to earn it and I'm not going to make it easy on you.”
She straightens up her posture once more to look more confident.
“In fact I plan on making it the hardest damn night of your life.” she said “It's just what you bring out of me, Alexandra. You don't get the version of me that goes to the ring bored because the other woman doesn't realize she's not on my level to begin with. You get the version of me that's built for war, because that's the Victoria I need to be to defeat somebody like you.”
She laughs slightly to herself.
“But that's also the problem..” she said “Because that version of Victoria Lyons doesn't crumble, and she doesn't flinch. She dominates.”
She takes another short pause.
“You want to prove you can rise above me?” she said “You want to prove that you're something more than the Alexandra Calaway that's fallen short against me before?”
She leans in slightly with a smirk on her face.
“Then show me.” she said “Because I'm not going to lower the bar, and I'm not going to step back. You're not going to get any openings for me that you didn't earn.”
She runs her fingers gently across her championship.
“And let's be honest Alexandra.” Victoria said “You're not looking for the easy route, you never have. Because at the end of the day you are a competitor and a warrior. You want the version of me that's going to swing back with everything she has, because anything less from me wouldn't satisfy you.”
That smirk returns to her face again.
“And that's exactly who you're going to get.” she said “The full unfiltered version of Victoria Lyons that refuses to let anyone surpass her but you need to understand something…”
The smirk still hasn't left.
“You need this match.” she said “You need this win over me to get that little voice in your head silenced. The one that reminds you that every time you stood across from me, you left knowing that I was two steps ahead.”
She smiles confidently but with that splash of arrogance.
“That type of weight can crush people.” Victoria said "But you're not the type who gets crushed are you Alexandra? No, you're the type that becomes more dangerous.”
She looks into the camera has her expression turns more cold.
“But dangerous still isn't enough to beat me.” she said lifting her Bombshell Internet Championship from the coffee table and resting it on her shoulder.
“This championship is physical proof of what I already am.” said Victoria “And what I am Alexandra, is the standard and this whole division knows it. So when you walk into Climax Control I want you to walk in ready and I want you to walk in with that intensity that I know you have in you.”
She pauses.
“Come with every intention of finally rising above me.” she said “Because that's the Alexandra Calaway I've prepared for, the one that fights like she has something to prove.“
She grins.
“But it still won't be enough.” she snickered “While you bring excellence, I bring evolution. You bring heart and unpredictability, but I bring dominance and inevitability.”
She takes another short pause keeping her attention on the camera.
“So if you think for a moment you're going to turn me into your stepping stone.” she said “If you think you're going to solve your Victoria Lyons problem on Sunday, then you haven't been paying attention. I'm not the wall standing in your way, I'm the ceiling you still haven't reached. When that bell rings I'm going to show you exactly why, that no matter how high you fly, I will always be above you.”
She adjusts the championship on her shoulder, and keeps your company and gays on the camera with Darian right there as her support as everything fades to black.